In-depth Analysis of the Xibei Pre-made Dish Controversy and Investment Insights for Chinese Full-service Restaurant Chains

In September 2025, online influencer Luo Yonghao posted a complaint on Weibo after dining at Xibei: “

”. This comment acted as a fuse, igniting the public’s long-standing resentment towards pre-made dishes in the catering industry [1]. Xibei founder Jia Guolong responded quickly after the incident broke out, stating that he had reviewed the dishes and service on the day Luo Yonghao dined, “”, and announced that he would sue Luo Yonghao [1].

However, this strategy of “confronting public opinion head-on” backfired. Within 48 hours, Xibei opened live broadcasts of kitchen operations in stores nationwide, but it turned into a “

”. The incident quickly escalated into a commercial spectacle of “national吃瓜” (national吃瓜 refers to the public following a scandal like eating melon seeds), and became the in Xibei’s corporate history [2]. Jia Guolong stubbornly defended himself using industry standards, trying to distinguish between “pre-made processes” and “pre-made dishes”, but . Instead of bridging this cognitive gap, he became the target of public emotional outbursts [2].

The core of this controversy lies in the fact that

[1]. According to current standards, only pre-packaged foods produced in factories, independently packaged, labeled with tags and shelf life count as pre-made dishes (e.g., bagged Yu-Shiang Shredded Pork sold in supermarkets), while semi-finished products made in central kitchens are not included [1].

(e.g., eight-treasure porridge, canned food), (e.g., frozen tangyuan, self-heating hot pot), (semi-finished products requiring heating and cooking), (e.g., pre-washed and pre-cut clean vegetables) [1]. After the draft of the “National Food Safety Standard for Pre-made Dishes” led by the National Health Commission passed review in 2025, the concept of pre-made dishes was significantly narrowed [1].

However, consumers’ understanding of pre-made dishes is:

[3]. This cognitive difference reflects severe information asymmetry between the industry and consumers.

100 days after the incident, Jia Guolong thoroughly reflected in an interview with Southern Weekend: “

” [3]. He said that pride had led him to misjudge many things, and he learned what “laodeng” (a slang term meaning an old, stubborn person) meant for the first time [3].

Xibei’s self-rescue measures included:

• Proactively reduced prices by 20%
  , but did not take the low-price route
• Increased labor costs
  to improve service density in stores
• Moved more processing links to stores
  to restore the smoky atmosphere of Chinese food, such as lamb skewers being cut, skewered, and grilled on-site; pork chop semi-finished products adjusted to raw ribs stir-fried in stores [3]
• Fully transparent open-kitchen operations
  : processes like on-site lamb skewer preparation, fresh dumpling wrapping, on-site chicken soup simmering, and fresh meat sauce stir-frying were moved to the front of customers [3]

In December 2025, the effects of Xibei’s self-rescue actions gradually became apparent, with long queues reappearing at stores. The brand had passed its most difficult period [2].

The impact of pre-made dishes on the catering industry is profound and long-lasting [4]. On one hand, the widespread adoption of pre-made dishes

, and theoretically should reduce consumers’ dining costs accordingly; on the other hand, the industrial production of pre-made dishes , the role of chefs is gradually replaced by “heating workers”, and the inheritance of traditional food culture faces challenges [4].

According to calculations by the China Merchants Bank Research Institute,

[6]. For comparison, Green Tea Restaurant’s net profit margin in 2024 was 9.1%, [6].

This may differ from some consumers’ impressions: in a fully competitive catering industry, the costs reduced by chain restaurants using central kitchens have long been reflected in prices. A mall investment manager bluntly stated: “

” [6].

Under the impact of pre-made dishes, catering enterprises may face further differentiation in the future [4]:

: Budget chain catering enterprises and popular small restaurants will , rely deeply on pre-made dishes, and even become retail terminals for pre-made dish enterprises. With price advantages, they sell pre-made dishes to consumers after simple processing [4]. A typical case is Saizeriya: its net profit in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2025 reached 11.164 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 37%, with nearly 600 stores in China, and most dishes on the menu are “pre-made dishes” [5].

: Mid-to-high-end catering enterprises will , creating unique-tasting dishes through personalized deep processing, including integration with other ingredients [4]. Consumers care more about which brand’s pre-made dishes the restaurant uses and what additional steps are taken based on them [4].

: “Anti-pre-made dish” catering enterprises , start from raw ingredients, and provide consumers with differentiated experiences [4]. The founder of a Hunan cuisine brand, Zuo Taiming, insists on making dishes on-site; his stores are mainly located on streets, and while the average customer unit price of chain Hunan cuisine brands is generally below 50 yuan, his stores maintain a customer unit price of over 150 yuan [6].

In 2024, the scale of China’s pre-made dish market reached

, and it is expected to reach by 2026 [4]. The proportion of pre-made dishes in China’s catering industry is also increasing year by year, especially in chain catering enterprises where the usage rate of pre-made dishes is high [4].

From a global perspective, pre-made dishes are not a new thing. In countries like the United States and Japan, the penetration rate of pre-made dishes has long exceeded

[5]. Factors such as fast-paced life after rapid economic development, family miniaturization, increasing single population, and rising female employment rate have jointly spawned and consolidated the huge demand for pre-made dishes [5].

The chain rate of China’s catering industry is continuously increasing. According to Meituan data, the national catering chain rate steadily rose from 15% in 2020 to 23% in 2024,

[5]. The market maturity of catering in the United States and Japan is higher, with their chain rates exceeding [5], which means there is still huge room for development in China’s catering chain rate.

The catering chain rate in the Greater Bay Area is even higher, reaching 26% in 2022, outperforming the national average [9]. According to statistics from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the output value of pre-made dishes in Guangdong Province exceeded

, maintaining a leading position in the China Pre-made Dish Industry Index provincial ranking [9].

It is worth noting that pre-made dishes initially entered from the mid-to-low-end catering market, with insufficient connection to the standards and requirements of the catering industry. Overall, the

[4].

However, consumers’ attitudes towards pre-made dishes are not entirely negative [5]. On social platforms, netizens often share their experiences of making pre-made dishes at home. Many consumers also say that they will choose to buy pre-made dishes

[5].

According to a survey, about 90% of consumers hope to reduce cooking time while maintaining meal quality [11]. This provides huge development potential for the C-end market of pre-made dishes.

From “confronting public opinion head-on” to “speaking with actions”, Jia Guolong completed the transformation from “emotional confrontation” to “rational breakthrough” [2]. Looking back at the Xibei incident, Jia Guolong’s mistakes were at least in two aspects [2]:

: He inadvertently . Jia Guolong repeatedly explained the difference between “pre-made processes” and “pre-made dishes”, emphasizing that Xibei only had “pre-made processes” and no “pre-made dishes”. However, this had a huge gap with consumers’ simple perceptions [2].

: Overemphasizing industry standards while . In the context of stock competition and the development of Chinese food chains, consumers pursue not only efficiency and standardization but also experience and emotional connection. Jia Guolong did not realize that “if the boss earns less, employees earn more, and customers are satisfied and return often, the business model can work” [2].

: from personal authority to organizational rationality. Most enterprises address symptoms in crises, but Jia Guolong finally chose to restructure the management, decision-making, and communication systems to ensure that consumer needs are captured in all links [7]. This systematic adjustment is the core capability for enterprises to survive cycles [7].

After the Xibei pre-made dish incident, the entire Chinese catering industry began to reflect and transform:

launched a on December 18, 2025,公示食材预处理程度. Class A green label means processed and made on-site using fresh ingredients; Class D orange-red label means some raw materials were pre-cooked before being delivered to the store [8].

took the initiative to close its central kitchen in 2024, and this strategic adjustment led to a [8].

released the “Laoxiangji Dish Traceability Report” to公示全部菜品加工方式 [8].

Micun Rice Bowl, once ridiculed by netizens as “even scallions are pre-made”, also launched

in April 2025 [8].

This trend of on-site cooking has some followers and some onlookers. Wang Hongtao, vice president and secretary-general of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, told Southern Weekend: “

”, which not only significantly increases costs but also may increase food safety and personnel management risks [8].

Over the past 20 years, the core proposition of the Chinese full-service restaurant chain industry has been:

Now, the proposition is changing to: [7]

This requires investors to not only look at supply chain efficiency, single-store models, and standardization levels when evaluating catering enterprises but also pay attention to:

• Experience density
  : Are enough on-site preparation links and smoky atmosphere retained?
• Emotional value
  : Has the brand established an emotional connection with consumers?
• Differentiated positioning
  : Is it avoiding homogeneous competition?

Xibei’s case shows that

, from complete standardization to moderate pre-processing and retaining smoky atmosphere, is the inevitable path for Chinese full-service restaurant chains [7].

The collective shift of the catering industry after the Xibei incident shows that

. Investors should pay attention to whether enterprises take the following measures:

• Public traceability
  : Establish a dish traceability system to公示食材来源 and processing methods
• Transparent kitchen
  : Open-kitchen operations so consumers can see the production process
• 分级标识
  : Such as Tai Er Sauerkraut Fish’s ABCD classification to clearly inform consumers of the pre-made degree
• Authentic communication
  : Admit the use of central kitchens but emphasize on-site secondary processing and preparation links

Investors should pay attention to enterprises’ clear positioning in the following three models:

• Representative enterprise: Saizeriya
• Investment logic: Achieve cost advantages through large-scale pre-production and win with low prices
• Risk reminder: Low brand premium, easy to fall into price wars

• Representative enterprise: Transformed Xibei
• Investment logic: Central kitchen ensures food safety and stability; on-site preparation provides smoky atmosphere
• Key capability: Balance management of the ratio between pre-made and on-site preparation

• Representative enterprise: Boutique Hunan cuisine restaurants
• Investment logic: Insist on on-site production, provide differentiated experiences, and maintain high customer unit prices
• Risk reminder: Difficult to scale, high dependence on chefs

The essence of pre-made dishes is

[11]. Investors should pay attention to enterprises’ layout capabilities in upstream raw materials, midstream processing, and downstream channels:

:

• Have their own bases and cold chain storage and transportation capabilities
• Have raw material safety, traceability, and supply stability capabilities
• Case: Shuanghui Group achieved internationalization through mergers and acquisitions of global supply chains [10]

:

• Have large-scale production capacity and nationwide channel networks
• Provide customized products and solutions for large chain catering customers
• Focus enterprises: Anjoy Food, Qianwei Central Kitchen, LIGO Food [11]

:

• Established brand advantages on the consumer side
• Strong product innovation capabilities to launch products that meet consumer scenario needs
• Case: Shuhai Supply Chain relies on Haidilao’s global store layout [10]

The Xibei incident shows that in the social media era,

. When evaluating enterprises, investors should pay attention to:

• Management learning ability
  : Jia Guolong’s transformation from “confrontation” to “apology” reflects the entrepreneur’s reflection and growth
• Organizational resilience
  : Xibei maintained zero penalties in 80+ regulatory inspections nationwide during the crisis [7]
• Crisis transformation capability
  : Turn crises into opportunities for brand upgrading and business model optimization

In March 2024, six departments jointly issued the “Notice on Strengthening Pre-made Dish Food Safety Supervision and Promoting High-quality Industrial Development”, which clarified the definition and scope of pre-made dishes,

, and strengthened food safety supervision [9]. The standardized development of the industry has led to a阶段性 decline in investment and financing enthusiasm, but the potential demand for the pre-made dish market remains huge [9].

The draft of the “National Food Safety Standard for Pre-made Dishes” led by the National Health Commission has passed review and will soon seek public comments [1]. This will eliminate non-compliant small workshops,

, and the concentration of leading enterprises will increase [5].

Currently, China’s pre-made dish market is still dominated by the B-end, but the C-end market is rising rapidly. With:

• Accelerated pace of life
• Shrinking family size
  (from an average of 4 people to 2.6 people)
• Increasing single population
• Rising female employment rate

Demand for pre-made dishes on the C-end will continue to grow. Investors should pay attention to enterprises that have established brand awareness on the C-end.

Chinese food going global is gaining momentum, which also drives the export of pre-made dishes [5]. Many Chinese food brands going overseas often face:

• Chef shortage
• High difficulty in product standardization
• Unstable local ingredient supply

Pre-made dishes and frozen foods can just solve these problems for enterprises, which provides an opportunity for the development of pre-made dishes [5]. Investors should pay attention to catering and pre-made dish enterprises that have established supply chains and channel networks overseas.

The future development direction of pre-made dishes is:

• Ingredient pre-made + catering snackification
• High还原度 technology
  : Make pre-made dishes close to on-site preparation taste
• Health and nutrition orientation
  : Low salt, low fat, clean labels
• Digital customization
  : Personalized recommendations based on consumer preferences

Investors should pay attention to enterprises with core competitiveness in food technology, preservation technology, and taste restoration.

1. Focus on enterprises that find the optimal solution in the balance between efficiency and experience
   , such as transformed Xibei and Tai Er
2. Layout upstream of the pre-made dish industry chain
   , pay attention to enterprises with large-scale production capacity and channel networks, such as Anjoy Food and Qianwei Central Kitchen
3. Seize the opportunity of Chinese food going global
   , pay attention to catering and pre-made dish enterprises that have established supply chains overseas
4. Invest in C-end brand building
   , pay attention to enterprises that have established awareness and trust on the consumer side
5. Focus on technological innovation
   , enterprises with breakthroughs in taste restoration, preservation technology, and food technology

1. Policy risk
   : Strict food safety supervision leads to increased compliance costs
2. Public opinion risk
   : Consumers’ stigma towards pre-made dishes has not been fully eliminated
3. Homogenization risk
   : Pre-made dish technology thresholds are relatively low, easy to fall into price wars
4. Valuation risk
   : Valuations of some pre-made dish enterprises are already high, need to be alert to bubbles
5. Execution risk
   : Transformation from “pre-made” to “on-site preparation” requires strong management capabilities and cost control capabilities

The Xibei pre-made dish incident is not just a simple public opinion event, but

.

From efficiency priority to experience priority, from complete standardization to moderate differentiation, from hidden central kitchens to transparent open kitchens, Chinese full-service restaurant chain brands are exploring a new path

.

For investors, it is necessary to跳出 traditional catering investment thinking frameworks. When evaluating enterprises, not only look at supply chain efficiency and single-store models but also pay attention to:

• Ability to create consumer emotional value
• Balance management ability between pre-made and on-site preparation
• Trust-building through transparent communication